I’m Out of the Office. No, Really. I Am.

I was out of the office for two weeks earlier this spring. Before I left, I performed all the usual tasks: I tidied up my desk, wrapped up a few stories and set up an out-of-office email message. The note said I would be out for two weeks and would NOT (yes, I used all caps) have regular access to email. I also provided an alternate contact for the duration of my absence.

But I quickly learned that my attempt to truly unplug was futile.

The red blinking light of doom emanating from my BlackBerry drew me in. I tried to resist, but I was too weak. So I checked my messages.

I was horrified to see at least four or five notes following up on emails that had only been sent a day or two earlier–when my out-of-office response was already switched on. The senders knew I was out, yet they still felt the need to send another note, asking why I didn’t respond. One went so far as to send a text message to my personal cellphone after receiving my automatic reply, convinced that her news was too important to wait. (It wasn’t.)

Is the out-of-office message meaningless? Earlier this year a New Yorker column got to the heart of the problem: People often don’t really mean it when they say they’re not checking messages. Then, when someone actually does need to go off the grid, it’s not taken as a serious threat. It’s a problem plenty of people have, but there are fixes…

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